Tihar
The Tihar (Russian: Тихарь), spelled Tikhar in Metro Last Light and Metro Exodus, is a multi-stroke pneumatic air gun that was created from scrap by the Metro dwellers at some point after the Great War of 2013. Overview Despite some obvious shortcomings in comparison with conventional firearms in use today, the air guns seem to thrive in the Metro. With all the laws, limitations and regulations out of the window and with parts being readily available, weapons such as the Tihar are providing strong competition to actual firearms. The Tihar is extremely quiet and is capable of silently bringing down enemies from surprisingly long ranges. It carries fifteen 15 mm ball bearings in a tubular spring-fed magazine. The ammunition is propelled by a cylinder of compressed air placed inside the stock of the gun, which attains its pressure by a handpump at the end of the handguard. A pressure gauge mounted on the right side of the weapon shows how much relative stopping power and distance the next shot will have, with each shot draining a small amount of air from the reservoir. It is possible to overpressure the cylinder for extra stopping power and range, but the extra air will leak out eventually and the gun will go back to normal power levels. In Metro: Last Light, it can be modified to stop the air from leaking. The sound of the gas leak will not give your position away to the enemy. In Metro 2033 the very first Tihar is available as early as the Lost Tunnel level. It can be picked off a corpse in the dead end side tunnel near the exit from Riga station. In Last Light it appears that the Tihar is being phased out by the new version "Tihar-M" ("M" stands for модернизирован, commonly used for "improved" in Russian weapon designations), as indicated by the production markings. All versions of the gun that Artyom comes across were produced by "Blacksmith Prokhorov" in 2030, which is stamped on the side. Tihar-M's performance remains largely unchanged in comparison with Tihar from Metro 2033. Its biggest improvement is probably the wider range of customizations. Tactics and Use The Tihar has a wide variety of uses and is quite effective from the moment it's picked up. While its pneumatic firing mechanism requires constant pumping and causes the Tihar's damage to often become steadily weaker in pitched firefights, it's also undeniably effective in combat situations and has little trouble picking off enemies In emergency situations, the Tihar can fire rapidly - while this uses up its comparatively small magazine quite fast and causes it to shed pressure quite quickly, this feature can, if the Tihar is fully-pumped when it cuts loose, cause considerable damage, making the Tihar quite effective when used indoors or at close-range. The Tihar's damage is directly tied to its pressure; if fully-pressurised, the Tihar's shots cause heavy damage and can frequently bring down a watcher in a single body shot. Unfortunately, this works both ways; if its pressure ratchets down too much, the gun is functionally useless, firing pellets that lack penetration power and have absolutely zero capability to cause damage to a target. Because of this, the Tihar should be fully pumped at all times or at least, keep the pressure meter above 6. You will know the gun is pressurised when you hear the gas is leaking and the pressure meter arrow is moving up and down quickly. The Tihar at this point also has greater power and accuracy; it can usually kill with a single shot to the chest, making it easier to dispatch enemies wearing helmets or gas masks. The amount of the pressure seems not to affect the dropping effect of the ball bearings however, even the guage is below 6 the Tihar is still moderately accurate. As with the Helsing and the Volt Driver, when first found or exchanged, the Tihar will need to be charged before you can use it, or you will just be wasting your ammunition. Note that the Tihar, like the Helsing, hisses softly when over-pressurised. This hissing can be heard by enemies and can reveal your location if you get too close. Bear this in mind and keep your distance to maximize the Tihar's capabilities for stealth. One issue players may have with the Tihar is that the glass in its scope is somewhat cloudy and may cause problems with target definition, so players looking for a sniper-esque weapon may want to reconsider using the Tihar. A weapon equipped with the PK-AV scope may be better. The scope is not recommended for low-performance systems, as using it is known to cause lag. Scoped Tihar The Tihar faces stiff competition for its role as a suppressed weapon from the VSV, revolver with silencer, scope and stock, the Kalash 2012 with a silencer and scope, and perhaps most notably, the Helsing. The Tihar sets itself apart from these guns in a few ways; it is, by default, nice and quiet, it does not need valuable 5.45mm rounds, has considerably better single-shot punch than the Kalash 2012 or revolver when fully charged, and is generally easier to use than the Helsing. Its ammunition is the cheapest on offer so it does not cost a lot to run one. The Helsing is the Tihar's true rival, weapon-slot wise; both guns are pneumatic. The Helsing fires arrows while the Tihar fires small pellets. Also, you can recover the arrows you shoot with the Helsing. The Tihar makes up for this though as its ammunition is the cheapest to exchange at kiosks. The ball bearings are also more common to find than arrows. In Metro: Last Light, the Tihar is similar in function, yet the gun (and its ammo) are very uncommon, meaning the player might not use it. Players should buy ammo for it every time they visit ammo vendors if they intend to keep it, as it's a good weapon in stealth-based levels, without the need to purchase a silencer. The Tihar faces strong competition with Volt Driver as well; both use the same kind of ammunition and when charged to full power, they are both lethal to most enemies. Both are capable of sniping as well, though the Tihar is more accurate by a small margin. However, the Volt Driver is considered to be more versatile, accepts more attachments and is easier to use. The Tihar's biggest advantage over the Volt Driver is the weapon's low price tag and ease to find, and the fact that the Tihar is completely silent, unlike the Volt Driver. Variants and Customization Metro Last Light The Tikhar has two attachment slots and five available attachments in total. Attachments in the Misc slot can be equipped both at once, so the Tikhar can have up to three different attachments at the same time. Metro Exodus The Tikhar shares Stock upgrades with Valve and some Sights and Gadgets with other weapons, but most upgrades are unique to this weapon. Instead of upgrading the barrel, one can make changes to its pneumatic system, either increasing its efficiency or making it to auto-refill. It is even possible to replace the pneumatic system with a railgun mechanism, which essentially turns the weapon into a Volt Driver and increases the damage enormously, making most enemies a one-shot kill. With this upgrade, the Tikhar is probably the most effective weapon in the game, boasting huge damage, fast rate of fire and cheap ammunition that can be crafted on the go. To balance it out, this upgrade is only available in the last level, The Dead City. However, after finishing the game and starting a new playthrough, one can equip the Railgun upgrade right from the start, using the option in "New Game +". Obtainment Metro 2033 Metro Last Light Facility - After entering the large room with the waterwheel, proceed to the bottom of the staircase. To the left is a set of lockers containing a Tikhar with x2 Scope attachment. Revolution - After the room with the armoured train, you will enter a room that will become filled with gas as part of an equipment test (requires gasmask). On the right side of the room is a ladder that lets the player cross the room by walking on pipes to get to the catwalks the left side of the room. Cross over to find a Tikhar with IR scope attachement on a crate to the left. Contagion - At the beginning of the level, in the room where the firing squad executes infected civilians, on a table along with a box containing NV goggles, is a Tikhar with reflex sight, laser sight and airtight valve upgrades. Depot - In the room at the top of the stairs where the player has a second encounter with Red soldiers (after the Baby Dark One opens the door for you) there is a locker halfway along the right side of the room holding a Tikhar with x2 scope. In the Chronicles Pack level, Pavel, you can find one with no attachments as soon as you enter the kitchen with the bandit practising with his knife. Related Achievements/Trophies Metro 2033 Metro 2033 Redux Metro Last Light Metro Exodus Trivia *The word Tihar (Russian:Тихарь) means "silent one" *In Metro 2033 it is called Tihar. However, in Metro Last Light it is called Tikhar. This is due to there being no literal translation of the Russian name -Тихарь, as the cyrillic 'x' is not exactly the same as an English 'h'. It is common to use 'kh' as a different romanization, neither is incorrect. *The Tihar has a rather obvious pressure gauge that is far easier to check than that of the Helsing. *The unique scope is actually 'open optics' - a line of three aperture glass sights, which also accomodate compensation for pressure dependent bullet drop. *A great way to gain a lot of military ammo is to sell the Volt Driver found when fighting the Bandits with Bourbon for a Tihar with a scope in Market Station. *In the concept art of the Tihar it appeared as it was originally to be fitted with a PK-AV sniper scope. *Despite being fairly common, a Tihar is never used by NPCs during gameplay. Intro cutscene, however, shows a soldier armed with one at the VDNKh fortifications. *If Artyom is left idle with the Tihar equipped he will examine the weapon and fiddle with the front sight on the gun. *Many would believe this gun is technically a silenced sniper rifle, frankly because of its range and none already existing in the game without DLC , but it is more of a carbine because of firing speed and lacking penetration power. The ball bearings may bounce off and remove armor. *Given the shape of the front grip and stock, the Tihar could have been built from a VSV. Bugs/Issues *The Tihar's scope can be hard to use at medium or lower resolutions, as the cross-hair lines are extremely thin, resulting in them "disappearing between the pixels" *The Tihar's scope may cause delays when used, making it very difficult to aim. Gallery Tihar_construction.jpg|Information card describing the construction of the Tihar (in Russian/Ukrainian) Tihar.jpg|Standard Tihar from Metro 2033 TharConceptArt.jpg|Concept art of the Tihar. Notice the different stock/air tank. Tihar with optics.jpg|Tihar with 2x optical sight Ilya-tolmachev-tikhar-1.jpg|Concept art showing Metro Exodus Tikhar variants by Ilya Tolmachev Ilya-tolmachev-tikhar-2.jpg|Concept art showing various Tikhar magazines and mechanism parts by Ilya Tolmachev Dmytro-butenko-tikhar-metro-exodus-001.jpg|3D model of the Tikhar converted into a railgun by Dmytro Butenko Dmytro-butenko-tikhar-metro-exodus-002.jpg|Another model by the same author, showing a more traditional Tikhar configuration References de:Tiharru:Тихарьuk:Тихар Category:Weapons Category:Developer Pack DLC Category:Chronicles Pack DLC Category:Metro Made Weapons Category:Pneumatic Weapons Category:Metro Exodus